Easy opening metal container



y 6, 1943. J. COYLE 2,444,591

EASY OPEHING METAL CONTAINER Filed March 30, 1945 Patented July 6, 1948 OFFICE i EASY OPENING METAL CONTAINER John Coyle, Baltimore, Md, assignor to Continental Can Company,=llnc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 30, 1945, Serial No. 585,641

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a metal container wherein the cover is frictionally secured to the body and a pry-olT lever is associated with the container for forcibly separating the cover from the body por-- tion of the container.

An object of the invention is to provide a container of the above type wherein the cover. and the body are provided with projecting flanges spaced from each other when the cover is fully seated on the body and wherein a pry-oii lever is so secured to one of the flanges as to become a unit therewith and at the same time be shiftable to various set positions between the flanges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container of the above type wherein the pryoif lever is provided with a member disposed between the flanges and is so dimensioned that when the lever is swung, said member will engage and separate the flanges from each other for releasing the cover from the body.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container having a cover secured thereto by friction wherein the body wall of the container is shaped outwardly to provide a U-shaped channel having a projecting flange and wherein the cover is provided with a flange spaced from the ,flang'eon the body when the cover is seated, and

wherein a pry-ofi lever is provided with a retaining member extending into the channel and a pry-off member extending between the flanges, which pry-ofl member is so dimensioned that the swinging of the lever from one position to another will cause said member to engage the flanges and separate the same for releasing the cover from the body.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention,

Figure 1 is a side view of a container with the cover attached and the pry-01f lever in its normal position of rest on the flange of the container body;

Figure 2 is a' view showing the pry-off lever turned so that the member thereof between the flanges engages the flanges and separates one from the other for releasing the cover from the body.

Figure 3 is a sectional View on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the pry-off lever showing in broken lines the position of the 1 Claim. (01. 220-43) iii pry-off member before the lever is attached to the flange of the container body. a The invention is particularly adapted for. an easy opening container of the specific type illustrated in the drawings and therefore the structure of the container illustrated will be described in detail. 1

The body of the container is formed from a single blank by a drawing of the metal so as-to provide a bottom I and a cylindrical body portion 2. The cylindrical body portion .2, by dieshaping, is formed with a depending member 3 which is spaced away from the body wall so as to provide a channel 4 and a U-shaped friction seat 5. The depending member 3 is provided with a flange 6 which is rolled into a bead 'I.

The cover is also formed from a single metal blank by drawing and is shaped so as toprovide a'central depressed portion 8 surrounded byfan inner wall 9. The cover has a depending skirt l0 and the metal between the wall 9 and the skirt H3 is shaped to provide a recess which conforms to-the upper curved edge of the body wall. This cover is so dimensioned that the side walls of .the recess make frictional contact with the inner and outer walls of the body member, which constitutes the seat on the container body. ."I'hisprovides a double friction grip between the cover and the body wall.

The lower portion of the skirt I0 is bent outwardly to provide a flange l I which is rolled into a hollow bead I 2. These flanges 6 and II are spaced away from each other when the cover is fully seated. A sealing compound may be placed in the cover recess to aid in making a very tight seal.

The pry-off lever is attached to the body flange as a unit. This pry-01f lever includes a main portion l3 having at the lower end thereof a, finger piece I l and at the upper end a retaining member l5. The lever at the side thereof between the retaining member IB and the finger piece M is bent outwardly as shown at l 6, thence laterally as at ll, and is shaped so as to provide an upwardly extending portion l8 which, after attachment to the flange of the container body, is bent inwardly from the broken line position to the full line position to provide a pryoff member [9.

The lever is applied to the container body by placing the retaining member ii in the channel formed by the depending member which is spaced away from the body wall. The outwardly bent portion 16 of the lever lies below the flange 6 on the body member and is spaced a slight dis- When the lever is swung to the position shown in Figure 2, this pry-off member 19 willwengage both flanges and will separate the flanges so as to release the cover from its frictionarengagement with the body. As shown in Figurer2; the

cover flange has been lifted and in so doing, the flange curved to some extent. This-is,- because the cover is not completely released from its frictional grip upon the body. The lever can be readily returned toits vertical position and thencemoved along the body flange to another set position and again turned for separating the flanges.' The lever can be shifted from one :point to another along-the flange-sand operated to separate the flanges until the cover is com-,- pletely released from the body.

It will be noted that the pry-off lever is :a unit with: the: container and is 1 shipped therewith so that it is always readily accessible for the releasing :of the cover from the container body. It will also-be noted that the-lever is so constructed that it lies close to the-body walland does notproject to. any appreciable distance beyond the projecting flanges on-the body and cover." The finger piece 14- projects outwardly from the body wall and thisenables the lever to belreadily engaged by the operator and shifted to release the cover. "'When sealing compound is used in the cover recess to aid in making a verytight seal, the compound is compressed between" the cover recess and the U-shaped friction seat of the body at thetime the :closure is applied. The aging of the compound during storage ofvthe can and its product adds to the difficulty of removing the cover and increases the force required to remove itL The-pry-ofi lever is a very-effective means for: breaking this seal-and removingthe cover.

It is obvious that minor changes. in the details of construction of the container and in the detailed construction of the pry-off lever may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

A metal container comprising a body portion having the upper edge thereof bent outwardly and thence downwardly in spaced relation to the body to 'provide an annularohannel" encircling said body, a cover having a portion extending outward-ly over the body'and thence downwardly andfrictionallyeengaging a downwardly extending portion on the body, said downwardly extendv in'g portion on the cover and said downwardly extendingportion-on said body each having an "outwardly-protecting flange, which flanges are spaced-fromeach-other when the cover is seated,

and a pry-off lever disposed along the body wall and extending into said channel, said pry-oil lever having an outwardly extending portion carryin'ga pry -ofi-member disposed between the flanges and initially parallel therewith, said pryofizmember being. of a width: greater than the distance between theflanges' so that when it is turned by the swing of :the lever, it will engage the flanges and forcibly separate-the same, said pry-01f member, the portion of the lever carrying the same and the portion of the lever extending intosaid channel serving to preventremoval of the lever while permitting movement= thereof to selected position-about the'container body.

JOHN'COYLE.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of recordin the file of this patent:

-UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,833,752 Longchamp Nov. 24, 1931 2,303,205 Frankenberg Nov. 24, 1942 2,333,886 Punte Nov. 9, 1943 2,334,225 Socke Nov. 16, 1943 FOREIGN'PATENTS Number Country Date 240,707 Great Britain Oct.'8,'1925 330,785 Great Britain June 19, 1930 

